An aspirant's several years search for Allah, made possible by His grace/mercy ,and not through any efforts of the seeker

Saturday, December 26, 2015

195. Mkadk’s
progress

There has been some recent progress. It started on 2-3 of
Dec 2015.

There are always ups and down in this journey. Aridity and
bliss alternate with each other, till one reaches the final stage, when one becomes
connected with God all the time. Then these cycles end, and there is peace and contentment
constantly. Now all my sessions are good, full of bliss. In 4/15 and 5/15, I
had asked BBJ to pray for me, that I should get my two goals, ‘Green Allah, and
a supernatural spiritual event ‘. Those have not occurred. The door to God is
still closed as ever. It will open at age 78, or earlier, as promised by QA.
BBJ said he cannot help me, nobody can, God wants it that way, but he can pray
that my path may be made easier ( 5/15). He asked RQ to raise his hands and
pray with him. Both prayed for me.I
think God granted their prayer. My path has become easier

This easing of path, if true, and if it continues, is a
great milestone achieved. My path has been made tremendously easy. It is due to
the predictability of the bliss during my morning session. Another factor is
that I have finally started believing that I will get my goal in less than five
years. Although I am terribly impatient and don’t want to wait. I would rather
die today without finding God, than to wait for 5 years. But it is still better
than never finding God at all. Why this waiting? I think it is unjust. I
constantly fight with God about it. I want to understand the reason behind it.

Meditation period has increased. From 4 hours to 5 hours
every day. Now I have an evening one hour book reading session

Tears have increased; from one time a day to 2 times a day.
Bliss, in the morning session has increased.

SK (the chief disciple of QA) is going to sing my five Urdu
poems. He had been a professional wandering singer, so he knows better. QA also listened to my poems. His remark was
that they reminded him of old time when similar verses (of love and separation
from God) used to erupt from his heart. Now, off course, he is all the time
connected with God.

He must be close to eightyat this time.

I had written a letter to QA, and put it under the sign of
Allah, in my meditation room. I wrote it on 2/15/13. It consisted of 2
questions. I had completely forgotten it. The other day I found the paper and
was amazed that both questions have been answered. The two questions were:

When will I find God?

Is it true, or just my imagination, that a receiver has been
installed in my head? If any of the great spirits, present in this room want to
answer these questions, they are welcome

The second question was answered by Shah Sahib in 2014 or
2013. RQ asked him this question on my behalf. He said “it is true. Receiver
has been installed. To further improve it depends upon him”.

The second question was answered by QA in 5/2015 and again
in 6/15, once through SK and once by wireless communication directly to RQ. How
many persons in the whole world are lucky enough to be told, years in advance,
that they are in the notice of God and have been accepted for the greatest
honor that a human being can get in this life; an honor granted not by any
human being but by God Himself. Just the thought of the Master looking at me
fills me with awe and gratitude. I want to share it with the whole world. I
want to shout on rooftop “o’ people of this world, I have been selected by God!
Me, mkadk. And God approved its disclosure to me through QA. QA would have never
told RQ, without God’s permission. He could not have been given this knowledge by God, if
God did not want it. Why did God want me to know? To comfort me, what else?
Seeing my anguish he took pity on me. He could not grant me the reward now (instead
of age 78), because I am not ready. I don’t have the capacity to handle it.
Remember, my own poem (blog 61, The Riddle): “Trained according to capacity and
need”. This episode clearly shows that God is personal ( as a matter of fact He
is both personal and impersonal, as I have previously discussed it in blog 114): unchanging
God and His kinetic energy))

It is most amazing that my letter with the two questions has
been answered.

What a relief? It also almost guarantees that I will live
till that time (2020 or earlier). Although QA was careful to state that I will
get my goal only if I live that long. He also said that the desire to live has
gone in him (mkadk). However I am certain that God won’t let me die without
rewarding me. That is how God works. Effort must be rewarded. His justice
absolutely demands it.

Living till 2020 is not a joy for me. I would rather die
today, unfulfilled. This is because I don’t want to live away from God for
almost five years. Pain and anguish has decreased now, as compared to a year
ago.

I also think it is not fair that I have never been given
even one bit of spiritual reward for 16 years. No spiritual event. Although
others have been like me; Brother Lawrence did not get even a bit of reward for
10 years, Philip John (Searcher from England, see blog 64) for over 25 years.
But I am not sure they never saw a spiritual supernatural event in others.
Philip John met many Qalandars in the desert of Sindh; he may have seen a
spiritual event first hand while he was with them.

Brother Lawrence had written at one place that God liked his
talk. If he forgot to talk to Him for any length of time, He gently reminded
him and drew his attention( blog 18). Pleasant sensations occurred in him, so pleasant
that he was embarrassed to mention them. Now, for the last 3 weeks when in the
evening I sit on a sofa to read a spiritual book and get into the spiritual
mood, pleasant sensation develop on the face and last till the end of one hour
session. This instant reward is something new. I have been given a spark of the
fire which raged in Brother Lawrence.

If you are curious about the Green Allah, you deserve an
explanation.My wish is that whenever I should
close my eyes and think of God, I should be able to see the Green Allah sign ,
as it is written on a piece of paper and hanging on a wall in my meditation
room. I made it myself, and MB and I colored it green and sprinkled glitter on
it. The sign should appear on the back of upper eyelids, as in a dream, and not
back in brain, as one sees things in imagination. I have never been able to do
it, even for one second. All thoughts should be focused on God at that time( to prevent thoughts from wandering, something is required in the field of vision ), and
I should forget passage of time. I should be neither asleep nor unconscious.

My second desire, to experience a supernatural spiritual
event, is important to me. I want to be touched by this limitless, mysterious,
God’s spiritual system. Only then would I believe it. If QA would merely contact
me directly, over a distance of thousands of miles, I would be satisfied. He has
the power to do so. He has sent instructions to RQ and SK many times by
imprinting the words in their brains. I requested him but he denied my request.
Shahab received a letter from Germany. That
was an example of a supernatural spiritual event (Blog 65). No doubts are left
in an open-minded person’s mind after
such an event.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

194.
Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part three

We were discussing Sufism ( mysticism)

He knew that piety and restraint from
passion is necessary, but it was also required to devote with total ardor to
God. This could only be achieved by avoiding fame and fortune and fleeing from
attachments. He reflected on his intentions on his public teachings, and saw
that it was not directed purely to God, but more towards fame and prestige. He
realized that he had to give up his post and leave Bagdad.

An intense period of vacillation ensued.
One day he would firmly resolve to leave Bagdad and next day cancel his
decision. Worldly desires and path towards God were pulling him in opposite
directions. This lasted for six months

God intervened!

A lock was put on his tongue. He could not
speak a single world. He also became sad. His appetite and digestion went away.
There was great weakening of his powers.

‘In powerlessness I had recourse to God. I
was answered by Him’

‘He made it easy for my heart to turn away
from fame, family, children and associates’. He announced that he was leaving
for Mecca (for Hajj?). Although in actuality he was going to Syria. This was a
precaution from schemes of trouble makers.

“I departed from Bagdad after I had
distributed what wealth I had, laying by only the amount needed for my support
and the sustenance of my children…… I resided in Damascus for nearly two years.
My only occupation was seclusion, spiritual exercise to purify my
soul…..cleansing my heart for the remembrance of God, in the way I had learned
from the writing of sufis…..mounting to the minaret of a mosque for the whole
day and shutting myself in……Then I travelled from Damascus to Jerusalem, where
I would go daily into the Dome of the Rock and shut myself in.”

An inner urge guided him to go to Mecca and
Medina and perform Hajj. Which he did.

He had to come back to his native land for
certain important matters. But he maintained solitude. He tried to keep his
heart empty for remembrance of God. But worldly concerns and needs made it
impossible to fully achieve this state. He had blessed ecstasy only
intermittently. He remained in this condition for ten years.

Things impossible to enumerate were disclosedto him.

Many Islamic mystics like Shahab ( blog
32,94. Also see note 4 below) have considered mysticism inferior to Shariat.
But not Ghazali:

“ this much I shall mention, that profit may be derived from
it: I know with certainty that the sufis are those that uniquely follow the way
to God, their mode of life is the best of all, their way the most direct of
ways , and their ethics the purest.”

“…….all their (sufis) motions are learned
from the light of the niche of prophecy. And beyond the light of prophecy there
is no light on earth from which illumination can be obtained.”

“From the very beginning of the Way
revelations and visions start…. so that , even when awake, the sufis see the
angels and the spirits of the prophets and hear voices coming from
them……eventually to states beyond the narrow range of words”

He wanted to come out of seclusion to
reform others. He had found out that the faith of some men was weak. He wanted
to guide them aright and to deliver them from peril.

He was on the horns of a dilemma: seclusion
and devote all the time to God or to come out of religious retirement and guide
others by lectures and books.

God intervened!

Sultan ordered him to return to Nishapur
and face the threat of this tepidity in Muslims. Thus the decision was taken
out of his hands. In addition to that, certain Godly men had many recurrent
dreams attesting that this move of his would be a source of good and a right
procedure, and it had been
decreed by God……

He was uniquely qualified for this task due
to his encyclopedic knowledge of Islam, and philosophy and being an authentic
sufi. He wrote many books.

Avicenna (Ibn Sina, born 980 A.D.) and
Averroes (Ibn Rushd, born 1126 A.D.) are the two most famous Muslim
Philosophers of Middle Ages. In philosophy, they both followed Aristotle (Pupil
of Plato, born in 384 B.C.), and not Plato. Ghazali exposed, what he thought,
were the weaknesses in the arguments of both of them, and also that of Al
Farabi (born 870? A.D.). He wrote a book called Destruction of the
philosophers. Averroes replied by a book Destruction of the Destruction.

He followed Shariat and his mysticism was
traditional Islamic mysticism. He advocated orthodox religious views. He did
not bring anything new.

This mote considers him a great man, because
when the time for sacrifice came he rose to the occasion and sacrificed, by quitting
the world, for God. He realized God without any teacher. Books were his
teacher. This mote also has no guide; books have been my guide. But I did not
realize God, because I did not possess the courage to leave world.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

(1) ‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his
deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic
by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by Graham

(2) ‘Kashaful- Mehjoob’ by Daata
Gunj Bakhash

(3) My source in writings about Descartes and Plato
is the book, “A history of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell

(1)From my blog 94:“I am simply amazed that
how Mr. Shahab considered it inferior to shariat. The bliss of God’s
touch on one’s face is ineffable. Words cannot describe it. One touch is
greater than thousand ritualistic prostrations. All great saints, like St
Teresa of Avilla, and Sri Ramakrishna have said the same thing.”

Friday, December 11, 2015

193.
Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part two

We were discussing sense-data

What
if the dream state was real and ordinary state was unreal like a dream?

He
had heard that Sufis could attain states which were different from normal
wakefulness and sleep.There was a hadith,“Men are asleep: then after they die they
awake.” And will be told, according to Quran, ‘But We have removed from you
your veil and today your sight is keen’ (50:21-22)

Ghazali
struggled for two months with this dilemma. On one side was the surety of
sense-data and self-evident truths and on the other side arguments against them
which made one doubt them. He could not surmount this impasse.

Then,
God in His great mercy guided him and illumination came to him.

At
this point, this mote wants to digress and want to site two pertinent examples
of two great philosophers.

Remember
Ghazali doubting the sense-data. Descartes(born 1596 A.D.) is considered the
founder of modern philosophy (3). He went through the same thought process in
17th century which Ghazali had gone through earlier, namely to doubt
everything (Cartesian doubt). He said to himself, ‘here, I am sitting in my
armchair by the fire place. But I have imagined myself sitting like this while
I was in bed. I have had hallucinations and dreams which appeared real to me,
but were false. However, although sense-data can be doubted but geometrical and
arithmetical realities are certain’. As he further reflected on this point he
came to question mathematical beliefs also. He considered, ‘what if a powerful
demon or God was misleading me. God would not do such a thing but an evil demon
might. He could make me believe in things where none were present’

“there
remains, however, something that I cannot doubt. No demon, however cunning, could
deceive me if I did not exist. I may have no body: this might be an illusion.
But thought is different.”

‘I
cannot think unless I exist.’

“ I think therefore I am”

This
phrase has become immortal over centuries!

It
was his first truth, which he could accept without scruple.

Plato,
( born 428-7 B.C.) discussed what is real and what is an illusion in his famous
simile of the cave.

“Behold!
Human being living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards
light……., and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and
can only see before them……Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a
distance, and between the fire and prisoners there is a raised way……there is a
wall in front. Between the wall and themselves there is nothing; all that they
see are shadows of themselves, and objects behind them, cast on the wall by the
light of the fire behind them. Inevitably they regard these shadows as real,
and have no notion of the objects to which they are due. At last some man
succeeds in escaping from the cave to the light of the sun, for the first time
he sees real things, and becomes aware that he had hitherto been deceived by
shadows.”

If
he is a philosopher he goes back to the cave to tell others that are looking at
shadows. Nobody believes him.

Philosophy.
Next Ghazali turned his attention to philosophy. “God, most high, gave me an
insight in the farthest reaches of philosophy in less than two years.”There
were three main divisions:

1.Most ancient philosophers: they did not believe in God. They
alleged that the world had existed from eternity as it is, and not by reason of
a Maker. Modern scientist and philosophers, like Einstein and Bertrand Russell,
would fall in this category, except their belief in Darwin’s theory of
evolution.

2.Second category were the naturalists. They believed in God, but
did not believe in afterlife. This mote, as a young man, belonged to this
group.

3.Third group of philosophers believed in a Creator, and
afterlife. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle belonged to this category. This mote,
a secular humanist and novice mystic, belongs to this group. They differed from
devout religious in several aspects. Ghazali noted twenty differences from
ordinary Muslims, especially three questions, and wrote a book (The
incoherence )to refute their beliefs. In general, the philosophers of his time,
were unbelievers in religion, they were innovators, and practiced mathematical
and physical sciences. They also followed logic and syllogism.

Ghazali spent a lot of energy and effort in
discussing these topics in his spiritual autobiography. This mote has no
intention of doing it because it is unnecessary and outdated for present times.
Suffice is to say that Ghazali was satisfied.

Sufism. Finally he planned to learn the way of
sufis. It took him eleven years. First he read many books written by great
mystics. It soon became evident to him that theoretical knowledge is not
sufficient, he had to practice mysticism. Just like knowing the definition of
drunkenness is different than actually being drunk.

To be continued

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

(1)‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism,
his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the
Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction byGraham

(2) ‘Kashaf ul- Mehjoob’ by Daata
Gunj Bakhash

(1)My source in writings about
Descartes and Plato is the book, “ A history of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand
Russell

Friday, December 4, 2015

192.
Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part one

Ghazali( born 1058 A.D.) was a mystic philosopher, like
Saint Augustine ( born 354 A.D.). One is struck by his questioning mind. We are
fortunate that he wrote an account of some of his thoughts. Although he wrote many
books, some encyclopedic, but I am concerned only with his spiritual
autobiography ‘al-Munqidh min al-Dalal’(‘Deliverance from Error’) (1). Why? Because
it is an autobiography, and I try to write almost exclusively from
autobiographies or from biographies written by mystic’s contemporaries, because
mystics don’t lie. St. Augustine wrote his autobiography (‘Confessions’) in
fourth century. There is a gap of seven centuries, till Ghazali and Daata Gunj Bakhash
( born 1010 A.D.)(2) wrote their respective autobiographies in 11th century.

In the beginning of his book Ghazali states that he was born
with an inquisitive and questioning mind. He questioned the assumption that the
religion that he practiced___Islam, was the only true religion. Why
did he question this general belief? Because he made the observation that the
children follow their parent’s religion. Infants born to Christian parents
become Christians, and the children born to Jews, as they grow up, embrace
Judaism, and babies born to Muslim parents stick to Islam. Therefore, he
argued, that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism were not inherently superior to
one another; rather it all depended upon blind chance____ whereone was born and brought up, factors beyond
one’s control.

He also came upon a hadith (sayingof Holy ProphetPBUH ) that “each
infant is born with a natural fitra ( inclination)” (Towards a
particular religion? ). Then probably his parents make him Muslim, Christian or
Jew ( this mote’s addition). What is this mysterious fitra? From where
did it originate? And most crucially why is it different from one another in
infants born to different religious parentage? Ghazali never discusses it in
his autobiography.

Two points must be mentioned here by this mote. Almost nine
hundred years had to pass before DNA was discovered. An infant’s genes (made of
DNA and they determine one’s hereditary traits) are derived from his parents;
half from his father and half from his mother. Ghazali had no way of knowing
it. This is the mysterious fitra, derived from one’s parents.

Second point is that almost all modern Muslim scholars now believe
that everybody is born as Muslim: whether his parents were Hindus, Christian,
Jews or atheists, whether he was born in Alaska, Europe or Russia, and whether
he was born recently or three thousand years ago___ before the Holy
Prophet Muhammad PBUH. Thus, everybody has a Muslim fitra.

At any rate, Ghazali decided to find out that how much of
religion was based upon blindly following parents and teachers , and how much
on other factors ( inherent superiority of one religion over others, fitra,
etc)

Since from the same primary observation Ghazali also
realized that the truth (I am using truth as a loose term, what I mean
is the path chosen by God) of a religion cannot be ascertained from the
arguments, logic and practices of various religions, because every person
accepts those arguments which support that person’s particular religion (he/she
is conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs) and rejects those which support another religion.
There is an inherent appeal to followers of one religion with a practice or
belief, whereas the same practice is abhorrent to the votaries of another
religion. For instance, according to Muslims, to worship a statue of a diety/god
(idolatry) is the highest sin that a human can commit (makinga statue equal to God ), but this worship is
carried out by over one billion Hindus.

Therefore, Ghazali realized that he cannot just be content
with Revealed knowledge (revealed by God and stored in religious scriptures)
but will have to search other sources of knowledge. He came upon three main
sources and several minor sources:

(1)Sense-data. Nowadays we
would have called it Science

(2)Philosophy

(3)Sufism

Sense-data.All knowledge in the world
(except revealed knowledge) is received through senses. One sees one’s mother’s
face, sun, bird, flower, and water, indeed everything by one’s eyes. One hears
ticking of clock, song, voice of a friend, indeed everything through one’s
ears. Same is true for taste, smell and touch; there are sensory organs for
them. What if the information provided by senses is wrong, then the knowledge
would be wrong. Can it happen? Ghazali thought about it. He made a protracted
effort to doubt sense-data. He took the example of stars. They look small like
a dinar (a coin) but there were clear geometrical proofs that they were bigger
than the earth. Our senses led us astray. One could furnish similar examples
about all senses.

However
there was another kind of data; self-evident truths. An example of self-evident
truth would be that ten is bigger than three. If a man converts stone into gold
and a stick into snake, in front of us, but proclaims that three is bigger than
ten, we would not believe him, despite his miracle.

Ghazali
doubted sense-data but he could not doubt rational data of self-evident
truth.One day his mind spoke up, “what assurances
have you that your reliance on rational data is not like your reliance on sense-data?.....”

“Don’t
you see that when you are asleep you believe certain things and imagine certain
circumstances and believe they are fixed and lasting and entertain no doubt
about their status? Then you wake up and know all your imagining and beliefs
were groundless and unsubstantial”

To
be continued

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(1)‘AL-Ghazali’s path to
Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from
the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction byGraham

(2)‘Kashaful- Mehjoob’ by
Daata Gunj Bakhash

192.
Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part one

Ghazali( born 1058 A.D.) was a mystic philosopher, like
Saint Augustine ( born 354 A.D.). One is struck by his questioning mind. We are
fortunate that he wrote an account of some of his thoughts. Although he wrote many
books, some encyclopedic, but I am concerned only with his spiritual
autobiography ‘al-Munqidh min al-Dalal’(‘Deliverance from Error’) (1). Why? Because
it is an autobiography, and I try to write almost exclusively from
autobiographies or from biographies written by mystic’s contemporaries, because
mystics don’t lie. St. Augustine wrote his autobiography (‘Confessions’) in
fourth century. There is a gap of seven centuries, till Ghazali and Daata Gunj Bakhash
( born 1010 A.D.)(2) wrote their respective autobiographies in 11th century.

In the beginning of his book Ghazali states that he was born
with an inquisitive and questioning mind. He questioned the assumption that the
religion that he practiced___Islam, was the only true religion. Why
did he question this general belief? Because he made the observation that the
children follow their parent’s religion. Infants born to Christian parents
become Christians, and the children born to Jews, as they grow up, embrace
Judaism, and babies born to Muslim parents stick to Islam. Therefore, he
argued, that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism were not inherently superior to
one another; rather it all depended upon blind chance____ whereone was born and brought up, factors beyond
one’s control.

He also came upon a hadith (sayingof Holy ProphetPBUH ) that “each
infant is born with a natural fitra ( inclination)” (Towards a
particular religion? ). Then probably his parents make him Muslim, Christian or
Jew ( this mote’s addition). What is this mysterious fitra? From where
did it originate? And most crucially why is it different from one another in
infants born to different religious parentage? Ghazali never discusses it in
his autobiography.

Two points must be mentioned here by this mote. Almost nine
hundred years had to pass before DNA was discovered. An infant’s genes (made of
DNA and they determine one’s hereditary traits) are derived from his parents;
half from his father and half from his mother. Ghazali had no way of knowing
it. This is the mysterious fitra, derived from one’s parents.

Second point is that almost all modern Muslim scholars now believe
that everybody is born as Muslim: whether his parents were Hindus, Christian,
Jews or atheists, whether he was born in Alaska, Europe or Russia, and whether
he was born recently or three thousand years ago___ before the Holy
Prophet Muhammad PBUH. Thus, everybody has a Muslim fitra.

At any rate, Ghazali decided to find out that how much of
religion was based upon blindly following parents and teachers , and how much
on other factors ( inherent superiority of one religion over others, fitra,
etc)

Since from the same primary observation Ghazali also
realized that the truth (I am using truth as a loose term, what I mean
is the path chosen by God) of a religion cannot be ascertained from the
arguments, logic and practices of various religions, because every person
accepts those arguments which support that person’s particular religion (he/she
is conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs) and rejects those which support another religion.
There is an inherent appeal to followers of one religion with a practice or
belief, whereas the same practice is abhorrent to the votaries of another
religion. For instance, according to Muslims, to worship a statue of a diety/god
(idolatry) is the highest sin that a human can commit (makinga statue equal to God ), but this worship is
carried out by over one billion Hindus.

Therefore, Ghazali realized that he cannot just be content
with Revealed knowledge (revealed by God and stored in religious scriptures)
but will have to search other sources of knowledge. He came upon three main
sources and several minor sources:

(1)Sense-data. Nowadays we
would have called it Science

(2)Philosophy

(3)Sufism

Sense-data.All knowledge in the world
(except revealed knowledge) is received through senses. One sees one’s mother’s
face, sun, bird, flower, and water, indeed everything by one’s eyes. One hears
ticking of clock, song, voice of a friend, indeed everything through one’s
ears. Same is true for taste, smell and touch; there are sensory organs for
them. What if the information provided by senses is wrong, then the knowledge
would be wrong. Can it happen? Ghazali thought about it. He made a protracted
effort to doubt sense-data. He took the example of stars. They look small like
a dinar (a coin) but there were clear geometrical proofs that they were bigger
than the earth. Our senses led us astray. One could furnish similar examples
about all senses.

However
there was another kind of data; self-evident truths. An example of self-evident
truth would be that ten is bigger than three. If a man converts stone into gold
and a stick into snake, in front of us, but proclaims that three is bigger than
ten, we would not believe him, despite his miracle.

Ghazali
doubted sense-data but he could not doubt rational data of self-evident
truth.One day his mind spoke up, “what assurances
have you that your reliance on rational data is not like your reliance on sense-data?.....”

“Don’t
you see that when you are asleep you believe certain things and imagine certain
circumstances and believe they are fixed and lasting and entertain no doubt
about their status? Then you wake up and know all your imagining and beliefs
were groundless and unsubstantial”

To
be continued

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(1)‘AL-Ghazali’s path to
Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from
the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction byGraham

Friday, August 21, 2015

We were discussing that how
did Christianity grow from a few demoralized, persecuted, leaderless followers
to the largest religion in the world?

The answer is, because Jesus
repeatedly appeared to his followers after his death, and even to one of
hisenemies, like Saul (St. Paul). There
is nothing more convincing to any person than a visit, while one is awake and
in full senses, than a visit and talk with a dead person whom one knew well
when that person was alive. All doubts vanish, never to appear again. Even
threat of painful death does not make one renege. It is no wonder that almost
all of his 12 disciples (and others like Stephens and St. Paul), except John
and perhaps one other (who were not killed), stood steadfast when they were
violently executed. Some were beheaded; others were crucified, or stoned to
death or pierced by pine needles or arrows.

That is why his death and
resurrection were so important to God’s plan

Now, after I have
discussed the four aspects of his life: his message, his miracles, his
death, and his resurrection, what do I conclude?

Power of God was with him.
Nobody before and nobody after him had that much power!

We are forced to arrive at that
conclusion by the richness of the above mentioned four aspects and by the fact
that the fruit of his labor resulted in the largest single creed which humanity
has adopted. A tree is recognized by its fruit.

Nonetheless my rational mind
cannot accept certain aspects of the popular and fundamental beliefs of
Christianity. These are listed below.

1.Jesus was the Son of god

2.Three gods or one God

3.Man is made in the imitation of God

4.Redemption of sins by Jesus

God
is fundamentally different from human beings. Let me repeat what I wrote before
( blog 113):

. God can be conceptualized as
energy, or something even more subtle than energy, with a supermind. You can
raise an objection that how can energy have a mind. We already know it can
happen. Human brain is an example. It is made, mainly, of nerve cells. These
cells have the power to think. Thoughts arise from certain nerve cells in the
brain. I can communicate with them and they with me. When I address my brain cells
and say “how are you doing?” I am certain that some brain cells have received
the message, otherwise I would not be conscious of it. The message had to be
received and interpreted by brain cells to come to my consciousness. The cells
may reply “we are fine”. Again, to come to my consciousness, some brain cells
must have formed the thought and sent it to me. Either the same or some other
brain cells interpreted the thought. These cells communicate with each other
instantaneously, at the speed of light (we know the speed, because all messages
are carried by electrons, which travel at the speed of light). If our brain, a
collection of billions of cells, made of atoms, and atoms made of subatomic
particles, such as electrons and protons and neutrons, can have thoughts of
pain, pleasure, compassion, jealousy, and anger, why not God, a collection of
pure energy, have a mind?

Such a limitless mass of subtle energy cannot have sons and
daughters like humans have. It is like saying that electricity has sons and daughters
and husbands and wives. There cannot be three Gods; the Father, the son and the
Holy spirit. Holy spirit is the kinetic energy of unchangeable God. The two
cannot be separated, like milk and its whiteness, the fire and its ability to
burn. Let us see what St. Paul had to say in New Testament:

6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom
all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things came and through whom we live. (1 Corinthians 8:6).

Man is a creation of the
Creator. It is not made in the image of God or in imitation of God. What has
limitless mass of energy in common with a biped carbon based animal?

This mote’s concept of Jesus
does not include the belief that he came to redeem our sins. He came to show us
a path through his message and through the example of his noble death and
resurrection.

I did not find any message
of Redemption in the gospel of Mark. At any rate, to think that we are
exculpated from evil deeds, because Jesus Christ has taken our sins and had to
sacrifice his life for our sins, is not rational . This notion is not worth
serious consideration.

And anyway what are the sins
of human beings for which they are going to be punished in hell, by being burnt
alive by fire for centuries if not forever?

All our acts, good or bad,
are the result of three factors, or rather two factors; intention, nature and
nurture. One is the result of one’s nature, which is produced by one’s genes,
which one gets, half from one’s mother and half from one’s father. The other
part of a person is constructed by where one is nurtured, or where one grows
up. The environments; parents, teachers, peers, culture, etc. Neither in nature
nor in nurture one had any control.A just God is not going to punish us for our
sins, because our intention was mostly derived from factors which were not in
our control(See blog 54).

As far hell is concerned I have discussed it
in blog 119 (1). Here are some excerpts:

“Years ago (probably
twenty-five), somebody casually remarked, “There is no hell, just heaven. God
is kind and merciful; therefore, there cannot be a hell”. That remark gnawed on
my ( this mote ) mind for years. The more I thought, the more I was convinced that there
cannot be hell”……….

….“Isn’t it true that you have
a son who is causing you great suffering because he drinks and………”(Sri Yogananda talking)

The man’s jaw dropped “How did
you know? Yes, this has been the greatest sorrow of my life”

“Then may I make a suggestion”

“Yes”. The man was eager for a
solution.

“All right take him out for a
walk in the hills, and have two trusted friends waiting there for you. They
should pounce upon him and bind him. Then let them build a huge roaring fire.
Let them throw your son in the fire”

The man was flabbergasted.
“Are you mad to make such a suggestion?”

“Exactly so! Yet you ascribe
such behavior to God, who created you and instilled in you that love for your
child. How dare you attribute to Him feelings so callous and punitive that He
will take all of His children that have done wrong and cast them in eternal
flames?”

A final remark to this seven blog series : All systems fail
at the altar of human self-interest. Whether it is any religion or ideology,
such as communism. Only certain individuals surmount this hurdle through
selflessness.

Friday, August 14, 2015

190. Jesus Christ in the
eyes of a non-Christian. Part Six

We were discussing what Data Sahib wrote in his 11th
century book (blog 104)

“In a village Salang, in
Ferghana (now Uzbekistan) I went to see a sage. The sage said “my son, you have
been in my notice from such and such date” when I thought about the date, that
was the date and year of my first day on the journey towards God. An old lady,
Fatima, lived with him. He said, “Fatima, bring something to honor this durvesh” she brought a platter of fresh
grapes, although this was not the season for grapes. There were also fresh
dates in that platter, whereas one did not have dates in Ferghana”.

Miracle of Pawhari Baba, as mentioned in blog 130.

Yashoda Mai, the guru of
Krishnaparem, once met the great saint Pawhari Baba when she was a fifteen year
old girl. He lived in a cave. Once, it was announced that he was going to give bhandara (feeding, distribution of a
vessel of foodstuff, and clothes to the sadhus),
the next day.An intrigued Mai,
disguised herself as a boy, and stood in the line of sadhus. Everybody was getting a vessel of food and a dhoti (garment covering the lower half of
the body). When her turn came, she just plunged head-on in the cave.

“Believe it or not, Baba,” she
said, “I saw something absolutely incredible: It was just a tiny cave with no
other exit. And there were neither vessels nor any dhotis___not a vestige! The narrow space inside the cave
was quite empty!”

Death. Three features of his( Jesus) last ordeal are
extremely important; foreknowledge, fear of the oncoming torture, and choosing
a painful death. Jesus knew about the soon approaching, greatest, single challenge,
of his short life; betrayal, trial, torture and death, and he chose a painful
death. Let me furnish the evidence of his foreknowledge. I will restrict myself to the gospel of Mark only, because it
is the earliest.

31 He then began to teach them that the
Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief
priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three
days rise again. ( Mark 8;31)

“because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them,
“The Son of Man is
going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after
three days he will rise.”( 9:31)

33 saying, “Behold, we go up to
Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and
unto the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to
the Gentiles.( 10:33)

It will make anyone doubly brave if he/she
accepts the oncoming terrible death knowingly!

If one was uncaring or did not have the
capacity of fear or his body was immune to pain, then it is easy to face these
mishaps. But Jesus was not like that. His human nature is manifest by the
following account:

“and he began to be deeply
distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point
of death,” he said to them. “Stay
here and keep watch.””(14:33-34)

At this point he even asked
God to excuse him, if possible. 36 “Abba,[a] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take
this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”(14:36) 38 Watch and pray so that you will not
fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”(14:38)

He chose an extremely painful
, in contrast to painless, death. Suicide bombers choose a painless death.
Socrates chose a painless death. Jesus could have melted that night in
wilderness of Palestine. But he did not. He chose first the flogging , mocking,
and later the crucifixion. Death by crucifixion is a long drawn out affair. The
victim suffers from pain from nails going through the flesh,, thirst from
bleeding, and difficulty in breathing because chest cannot expand efficiently.

Jesus Christ faced all this
with unflinching bravery and stoicism.

Resurrection. At the time of the death of Jesus
there were probably no more than a thousand of his followers. They must have
been very discouraged and depressed by his death. Their leader had been
ignominiously killed. He was tortured, mocked, made to carry his cross,
himself, in the streets, and then for almost six hours he hung on the cross. In
order to escape arrest his close disciples had ran away in the night when he
was captured.

The disciples believed he was
the Messiah. They had witnessed his awe inspiring miracles with their own eyes.
If they expected God to intervene to save Jesus from death, nothing of that
sort happened. There was no thunderous voice from the clouds, no lightning
struck the Roman soldiers. There was no earthquake, no tsunami, and no
hurricane. No divine intervention. Jesus simply died. He did not return
physically, as promised.

Ask yourself this question.
How did Christianity grow from a few demoralized, persecuted, leaderless
followers to the largest religion in the world?

Friday, August 7, 2015

In blog 124,
I described a yogi, whose son disappeared while climbing from a rope, but the
boy’s voice could be heard. Dozens of
people watched this event:

Right before the spectator’s
eyes the boy startedvanishing. Soon he disappeared. Now there was only the
rope!

“Ram, where are you”

From a distance the child
answered “Back to earth”

The sadhu started pulling down
and winding the rope

The boy’s voice came from
close, “Let me help you”

Forces of evil can also display this power. Voices would
come from a haunted house (blog 109):

“One night it was raining
heavily, somebody rang a bicycle bell, and yelled ‘postman! Telegram for you’ I
opened the door. A uniformed postman was outside. When I extended my hand,
instead of the postman there was a human skeleton, laughing, its upper and
lower teeth striking each other. I ran inside and closed the door. There was
sound of nails scratching the door for few minutes. Sometimes red blood would
come from the taps. Sometimes I would hear the sounds of horses running
outside.

All were not illusions and hallucinations,
because each morning before my 2 servants would come from their quarters, I
would gather all the stones, bricks, and bones, from the room and dump them
outside in the pond, so that they should not know what was happening. The
stones would be dry, despite heavy rain outside. My obstinate nature prevented
me from leaving. I relied on verses of Holy Quran for protection from evil
forces. The verses had great power. One night I played my gramophone. Instead
of the singer’s voice, screeching, terrifying screams or a woman’s sobbing came
out. I wrote a famous verse of Quran, in Arabic, on a piece of paper and put
the paper on the record. Screams stopped and singer’s voice came. I removed the
paper, and the terrifying screams resumed”.

1.Jesus appeared to walk on water. His feet may
have been in air, inches above the surface of water.It was a dark windy night. St Teresa of Avila
levitated (blog 76). The sadhu in India suspended his daughter in air ( blog
123):

The girl came
forwards. She was in a dirty, flimsy dress. Her hair was tied up in a rag. She
was no more than ten feet from the audience. He took out a stick; about ten
feet long, and let it stand behind her. He passed his hand over her body and
pressed her forehead with her fingers, all the time reciting some mantras.

After about
ten minutes, he touched the middle of her back with the end of the stick, while
he swept her up with the other hand. She lay on the point of the stick about
five feet above the ground!

He recited some
more mantras and then abruptly removed the stick from underneath the girl. The
girl was now suspended in the air without any support!

Indra’s
husband passed his hand under her to make sure that there was no support. Two
other persons also investigated without touching the girl, but there was no
trickery.

2.Jesus fed five thousand
people with small amount of food.This
means that either he created food from air or people felt filled with very
small amount of food. Both types of miracles have been performed by mystics.
Sri Ramakrishna, the great saint, was in Calcutta with his three companions.
They were all hungry. “The Master asked me to buy some sweets from a nearby
market…….I bought chanar murki. The Master took the packet of sweets
from my hand and joyfully ate them all. The Master knew that three of us were
hungry, but without sharing any sweets he had eaten everything. It was amazing
though that as soon he showed his satisfaction, our own stomachs felt full. We
looked at each other silently. Then the Master smiled …………and later three of us
discussed among ourselves what had happened and realized that it was a miracle
(1).

Food was created out of thin
air by Hazrat, a disembodied entity, controlled by Afzal Khan (blog 127):

Next, Afzal asked for
everybody to order any drink. The agitated owner of the watch ordered whisky,
while everybody else ordered a soft drink. Hazrat soon made all the drinks
materialize out of thin air in sealed containers!

Afzal offered to provide
sumptuous lunch for everybody.

Soon gold plates with
delicious dishes of food appeared.

After everybody had eaten, the
guests started leaving. Behind, they heard tremendous noise of dishes being
taken away. Soon all food and platters were gone.

Letters from ‘Ninety’ would materialize out of thin air, as
narrated by Shahab (blog 66)